


/toast

by Rosetta



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22619122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosetta/pseuds/Rosetta
Summary: "Man should fight for the joy of it. To live, to eat, to breed -- lesser beasts snap and howl at one another for this. Only man has the wisdom -- and the clarity -- to embrace violence for its own sake..." "Sir this is a McHydaelyn's." // You keep wondering why you're still in the job. At least, until payday comes.A cafe AU...kinda. Tags and categories may change as this continue, if it continues.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	/toast

"There really is something stimulating about coffee to start the day, don't you think, friend?"

You gave an expressionless nod, trained by years worth of saying an unconditional yes no matter what question posed its challenge to you.

Normally, such thoughtless gesture signalled that you were, a) a yes-man creature whose brain goes _no thoughts head empty_ whenever an opinion is asked from you, or b) a creature that lacks the basic empathy of humans, that you have none of the bare-expected capacity of someone to at least _pretend_ that you are interested on their words. However, this particular person, part of _the_ very particular clientele of Cafe Hydaelyn, had seen his fair share of enthusiastic, emotionally-charged and thoughtful service providers such as yourself, and thus he elegantly laughed in a heartfelt approval and sipped his _caffè macchiato_.

(Incidentally, no one asked your opinion for it, but something tells you you are a bit more of an a) rather than a b). Mayhaps.)

"Ahh, the perfect blend of the full strength of coffee and the gentle touch of a droplet of dairy, truly...I am blessed to be able to enjoy such mornings."

"Would you like your daily newspaper now or should I bring it after your companion comes, sir...?"

"Ah! I will skip my daily insight to the world's affair today!" Young Alphinaud Leveilleur replied with a refined jest. "My sister will be joining us today, and I thought it would reflect particularly badly with her if I have...distractions, you see. But I thank you for the thought."

"Of course." What was considered a _thoughtful_ gesture was in fact part of the instruction given to you by shift manager Ifrit. _See that snob kid sitting near the window?_ He said, on your first morning shift experience, _he comes at exactly the same time every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and he always asks for newspaper._ Such was one of the first things you were asked to note about the regulars of the cafe. The rest of the instruction also told you to ask if his usual companions would be coming with him - usually it was either a Lalafellin woman by the name of Tataru Taru, or a Hyuran man who, if your memory didn't fail you, went by the name Thugred or Thunkred or something. Eh. You've met Tataru a few times now (nice lady, _very talkative_ , tips generously even though your place doesn't actually do tipping), but until this date you have not once seen the Hyuran companion. Words on the street though, he was quite the womanising hunk, so you'll probably know it when he visits, or so you told yourself.

The plates of sweets and cakes that Alphinaud ordered was, you noted, a slight deviation from his usual simple cheese souffle and macchiato order. Rather, as you further thought, it was a monstrous difference - the entire top of the modestly-sized table was covered by the portions of honey muffin, crumpet and jam, apple pie, creme brulee, bloodcurrant tart, and not to mention the various cookies that he also ordered to be beautifully arranged on a serve plate. You knew he was also planning to order some drinks as well, though he planned to wait for his sister and companion to pick their own beverages.

"A peaceful morning, is it not?" Alphinaud asked, profiting off the extra second you spent lingering around his table as you accidentally took a bit too much time to think about his table. The shop was, in fact, rather _peaceful_ in the morning - aside from Alphinaud's table, only two guests were spending their morning in the cafe. "It is quite picturesque - a different kind of picturesque from Limsa's _The Bismarck,_ but I wouldn't be comparing a relaxing coffeehouse like this one with a grandiose dining hall, right?" Again, you displayed your flawless nod, as you stood by the table's side.

(You remembered when on your first shift you were also caught in Alphinaud's small talk, and you were fidgeting so much, the small k- _sir_ asked if you needed a quick restroom break, when in fact you were merely worried that shift manager Ifrit would blast your ass out of employment for wasting time standing around doing nothing productive. Somehow, however, you stayed standing until the talk ended and rather than getting a buster, you were instead given a heartfelt apology, as well as a compliment on the patience that let you consumed all of Alphinaud's small talk to the very end.)

((The secret was, you simply shut your brain off when Alphinaud's talk began to sound extensive. Unawarely, but your manager didn't need to know.))

"Come to think of it, I never asked for your name."

You zoned in back into the conversation when Alphinaud mentioned about names. "I'm quite sure I know everyone by name in this cafe, but you, new guy, I don't think I've asked before." The boy seemed to be genuinely interested, if the twinkling in his eyes and his upturned lips were any telling. "I've also exchanged stories with most of the morning shift regulars, too. Did you know one of your co-workers is allergic to chocobos?"

"No, not that I am aware of." The answer rolled off semi-automatically as your mind wandered to the unfortunate lady who called in sick yesterday because her boyfriend gifted her a charm made of chocobo tail feathers. _Some boyfriend_ , but you didn't know the whole story, so you stopped thinking about it. "You _really_ seem to be very familiar with our staff." _for someone who seems so troublesome to talk with._

"Well, I do have this habit of making the talk with you guys whenever. Ah- sorry, I'm not meddling with your work schedule, do I?" You almost instinctively nod, but managed to hold back and did a ~~stoic~~ polite headshake instead. "Ah, good, because quite honestly I was wondering about you, friend."

"Me?"

"You may be new around here, but I know someone well-travelled when I see them, you see. So I was kind of wondering about all the places you have been before you end up here in Ul'dah."

"Ah..." You were never really instructed about this by manager Ifrit, or any of your managers, in fact. "I..."

"Oh, sister, dear sister - over here!"

You turned your head to the direction of whichever, or _whoever_ had saved you from having to start recounting your life story, and saw a girl - the absolute splitting image of young sir Alphinaud here - along with miss Tataru and a Hyuran man you assumed to be Thugred.

(Well, his face wasn't _bad_...)

"Well, at least you have the awareness to prepare us cakes after stranding me at the port for hours yesterday," Lady Alphinaud said, before turning her gaze at you. "I don't think I've seen your face around before - a new staff, are you? Oh-" she took a longer look at you. "Oh! You must be the one Tataru's been telling me about!"

"That's the one, Alisaie," Miss Tataru said, with a grin. "Cute kid, don't you think? Really fun to look at too, if you know where to look."

"I see."

 _I see_ , you echoed Alisaie in your mind, worried about exactly what miss Tataru meant about knowing _where_ to look.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm sure my brother had been a _massive_ royal pain in the ass, but I thank you for catering to his whims anyway."

Your stoic nod relieved you from any responsibility of further talking about the topic.

As Alisaie took her seat, Hunkred greeted you with a quick wave. "Indeed, Tataru had been talking about you nonstop. _Really good looking_ , she said, also mentioned how you would totally pique my interest. I must say - she's not wrong, buddy."

 _What's your name, actually?_ you thought to yourself, but you gave out another stoic nod to greet him back instead. "I mean," he continued, as he took the empty seat next to Tataru, "now that you're here there's a fresh face to look at. Did you know the staff's been more or less the same for around a whole year before you got here?"

 _Most of them simply didn't survive Mr. Titan's harsh entry test._ You answered, but internally, as you shook your head in your attempt to remain as impersonal as you could with your clients. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Oh right, I hadn't got you any drinks - I feared my choice might have been not to your liking."

"Oh you _jest_ , Alphinaud, since when do you even care about our taste not fitting to whatever you think?"

"What she means, Alphinaud, you probably have a good idea of what we like anyway!"

"No Tataru I mean exactly what I said-"

" _Incidentally_ I do believe I have a good idea on what you all would like, though! Please, can we have some apple juice for Tataru, chamomile tea for my dear sister, and a serving of mulled tea for Thancred here?"

"Of course," you replied, already a pen and a note in hand, as the table continued their lively chatter. You gave them a quick last bow before you walked back to the kitchen, leaving behind the thoughts of the very brief talk at the table. What you didn't know, however, was what would come after that very brief meeting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I'm doing but I didn't know what I was doing when I entered Eden Savage and still cleared anyway so ahaha let's do this


End file.
